More mortgage changes to parse, but first let’s discuss poor Mark – the millionaire who thinks he can’t afford a house in Calgary.
“I don’t understand why the Calgary housing market is so sticky on the way down,” he says. “There are thousands of layoffs every month and more to come, yet a newish 2,800 sq ft family home with 20 square feet of lawn in the suburbs is still a million bucks. My wife and I (33 & 32) sold our home in December 2014 when oil started its crash and have been renting ever since. We’re now expecting twins (!) and my wife is dead set on buying a home. She has been very patient over the last year and a half, but these babies are on their way! I thought we could wait out the market but it’s a slow grind down. Where’s the tipping point? Our net worth is $1mm and we earn combined gross income of $330k annually.”
Well, Mark, blame human nature, severance packages and an unexpected bounce in oil to the $45 level. Real estate’s always sticky, and the higher average prices head, the stickier it gets. It’s now a part of our culture that every family must make money on every house sale, or they’ve somehow been cheated. So instead of going to market with a price that’ll attract buyers in a realistic amount of time, sellers would rather sit for months. And months. And months.
The oil thing has warped a few minds, too. Although prices are low enough to keep Cowtown frozen, the 60% recovery since the winter has rekindled hope the worst is passed. It isn’t. Meanwhile long severance packages have kept a lot of people in situ, figuring by the time they sell, pay commission, move, relocate and try to find another job, the troubles will be behind them.
And don’t forget the cowboy gene. Real men don’t lose money. Houses are the new equities, and everybody’s an expert. Selling a property for less than you paid is a fail, especially when it comes on top of losing your six-figure job as an O&G exec.
Anyway, Mark, you obviously have options. First, don’t buy now because prices (sticky as they may be) are unlikely to stay at current levels. The babies won’t know if you own or rent for at least ten more years, so what’s the rush? But if you have to bow to marital pressure, don’t be fooled by asking prices. Remember – this is a guy thing. You’re in a market where qualified purchasers with firm offers get to call the shots. There are no multiple offers in Calgary these days. No bidding wars. No bully buyers. And that segment of the market above a million is where the biggest bargains are being found.
Finally, remember you can get a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage for 2.5%. If you borrowed $800,000 the cost would be $3,500 (probably close to your rent), and because of the cheapo rate about $126,500 in principal would be repaid over the term, with $90,000 going to interest. That means if you committed $200,000 (20%) to the house and kept the rest invested, over five years at an achievable 6%, that eight hundred would end up being $1.07 million.
Borrow at 2.5% and invest at 6%. Duh. And is a Calgary house going to appreciate in price by 6% a year over the next half decade? Seriously?
So, Mark, if you lose you can still win. Sort of.
Now speaking of mortgages, the feds are diddling again and it means higher rates later this year. On Friday the regulator (OFSI) told the banks they’ll soon require greater capital reserves, and here’s why: “These updates will ensure that capital requirements remain prudent in periods where house prices are high relative to household income and/or house prices are increasing rapidly in nominal terms.”
Yep. Blame Vancouver and the GTA. Ottawa is worried once real estate markets start to sell off (and they will) banks could be impacted, since they have billions and billions in outstanding home loans. This new rule will require them to put aside more cash to deal with problem loans in the overvalued markets.
This might add less than a quarter point to the cost of a mortgage, but it doesn’t come in isolation. By the time the rule change applies (November) it’s expected the US Fed will have increased its benchmark rate once or twice, and bond yields (some have already doubled) will rise taking mortgages with them. Especially the fixed five.
You might find this warning from OSFI interesting: “Potential losses may become more severe during extended periods of rapid price appreciation and/or periods where house prices are unusually high relative to household incomes — since the value of the collateral underpinning these loans is likely to be less certain in those circumstances.”
It means people taking out mortgages in, say, Halifax or Montreal at a higher rate will be subsidizing those delusional tools borrowing to buy in YVR or the Kingdom of 416. But what else is new?
Good luck, Mark. Two babies, an iffy real estate purchase and a move. Enjoy the stress.
116 comments ↓
Well, it has started. Two fires visible from my back porch and one is very big and close to town here in Fort Mac. Can’t have +22 degrees Celsius in May and avoid a huge fire fighting budget here in the Taiga this year.
I’ll become a climate change refugee.
Three water bombers appeared in minutes. Unbelievable.
The real estate market here in the Mac might heat up.
Buy the house! Think of how horny the wife will be!
Mark: The prices have definitely been sticky – it’s been interesting to watch from over here in Vancouver.
The thing that surprises me most about Calgary is that prices are high without the geographic constraints. I don’t get it.
One thing Garth did not mention is thinking about where you will buy. If I were looking at Calgary, I’d forget about the granite countertops for now and buy the biggest lot that I could as close to the city center. Urbanization is a world-wide trend that won’t stop. The donut in Calgary is interesting as well. I’m not a Calgary expert though.
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/one-map-that-shows-calgarys-doughnut-of-decline-neighbourhoods-may-be-facing-trouble-ahead
Why can’t you rent? I know moving once or twice can be a pain with the babies but your wife can take a weekend with the girls in Banff and you can get pros to do the heavy lifting – all for less than the transaction costs and trouble associated with a real estate deal.
Garth, did you mean to write “fools” in the second last paragraph?
Some people on here have argued before about rising property prices having no effect on property taxes.
Below is the text from the official site…
M41BC
Tax Notice
Your property tax notice is a bill for some services that are available. The amount you pay depends on the:
property location
property classification
property assessed value
cost of services
Your taxes are calculated using tax rates that are set for each available service. Tax rates are adjusted every year to make sure the funds needed to provide services are raised. You can’t appeal your property taxes, but you may be able to appeal your property assessment.
In most cases, tax rates are applied to the assessed value of your land and any buildings or structures on the property. Not all taxes are applied to the value of your entire property, though. There are many ways taxes can be applied, including:
the value of the land
the value of the buildings or structures
the number of lots on the property
the size of the property
the length of land that fronts a public work (e.g. water line)
On your tax notice, you will find information about:
What services you are billed for
How much property tax you owe
“DELUSIONAL TOOLS”…..LMAO
I know this guy in Edmonton who owns a small commercial building once worth 3M. He is bleeding about 7K a month now (lost rents and CAM costs etc). Remaining tenants wont renew leases for 5 years, they want to go month to month. He has had offers in the mid 2’s, but his response is “but I paid 3M for it!” He won’t sell for under 3.2
Let the bleeding continue…..
Garth,
I’m surprised you didn’t highlight the following..
“At present, federally regulated deposit-taking institutions benefit from very low capital requirements on mortgages that are insured against default…..OSFI is also considering additional criteria for recognizing the capital benefits of mortgage insurance in light of recent observations related to mortgage loan documentation.”
It seems the cockroaches in the kitchen are working their ‘fine italian hands.’
Mortgage rates were not supposed to get so low in the first place.
Any increase will be short lived as stock market declines in 25%+ and another global downturn coming interest rates will go lower again.
If bond yields and interest rates are so low now and the U.S. is adding 200,000+ a month jobs over the last 3 to 3.5 years or so then imagine when things get worse.
Calgary housing market sticky? That is inconsistent with my friend’s recent experience of taking a $100k loss on a new build purchased at the peak of the market in 2013.
As for houses being a million bucks, sounds like he’s looking quite upmarket. There are plenty of reasonably nice homes in nice neighbourhoods in Calgary in the $500k range, especially with the ~25% price drop experienced over the past few years.
This new rule will require them to put aside more cash to deal with problem loans in the overvalued markets.
Indeed. Which means rising risk premia as not only will the banks seek to recoup the higher cost of equity capital, but they’ll also incorporate further tightening of regulatory capital requirements into their calculations. I’ve been saying this for a while — it won’t be the BoC policy rates rising that will cause retail mortgage rates to rise — it will be the lenders deciding to, or being forced to pull back on their participation in the residential RE market.
With all due respect to the folks in Calgary, unless you have lots of family there, the only thing that would possess one to move to the frigid parries is a good paying job. So guess which way real estate is heading? As for Vancouver, our Premier, is in the developers back pockets, so she will be continuing to court foreign buyers and do absolutely nothing to curb speculation.
Prices are sticky mark because real estate by its very nature is far less volatile than financial assets.
Furthermore, everyone needs a place to live, owned or otherwise, but not everyone needs to be financial assets. This fact alone will keep Calgary prices far higher than this blog author seems to suggest.
Heaven forbid for the RE bears if oil retraces back to anything above 60 bucks because you can count on new all time highs for Calgary houses.
Mark, buy your house
Surprised today’s photo had no product shown with the special “bend” feature that George Carlin always talked about….
Time to put on the Calgary Trade?; to Short sell whichever name is on the Saddledome.
– Air Canada: original one went BK at that time.
– Pengrowth. Fell over those years to pennies.
– Next up: Scotiabank! Richer than they think?
It means people taking out mortgages in, say, Halifax or Montreal at a higher rate will be subsidizing those delusional tools borrowing to buy in YVR or the Kingdom of 416. But what else is new?
Speaking of subsidizing, I’ll bet some savers have been subsidizing borrowers at these rates, so maybe what goes around, comes around?
#13 common sense on 05.01.16 at 7:38 pm
Surprised today’s photo had no product shown with the special “bend” feature that George Carlin always talked about….
//////////////////////////////////////
Hey Common ,yesterday’s photo was of some nuts ,and with today’s photo I think he’s trying to show us that we are a bunch of dicks…
M41BC
Gartho do you see money coming out of the bond market and into stocks as rates rise?
Bond mkt is 25 times size of stock mkt
Mark is having twins….congrats!
I am o.k with this particular Mark reproducing, the other one ,not so much…
M41BC
“Mortgage rates were not supposed to get so low in the first place.”
Why not? The cost of financing was abnormally high (relative to the long term) in the 80s and 90s. Largely on account of the inflationary blow-off in the 1970s. Historically the long-term return on bonds is approximately 1-2% above that of inflation (ie: 2-3%/annum). So mortgages at rates in excess of 5-6% were not justified based on the long-run growth potential of the economy.
We know that there was a period of mortgage rates significantly in excess of 5-6% (ie: double digit rates in the 80s and part of the 1990s). It therefore logically follows that there will be a period of mortgages beneath those rates, so as to facilitate the process of ‘mean reversion’.
What is abnormal, at least in Canada (and formerly in the USA) is the prices. Low financing costs stimulate a significant amount of additional supply in a market, and eventually collapse the price. This is what we’ve been seeing for the past 3 years — lower mortgage rates, but also falling prices because practically everyone who wants to own a house, owns one. Houses are not intrinsically different than any other consumer chattel, and once demand is satiated, prices fall.
Any increase will be short lived as stock market declines in 25%+ and another global downturn coming interest rates will go lower again.
I agree. However, 0% is a practical floor. As nobody will knowingly lend beneath 0%. There might be a few loans which are contractually bound to rates beneath 0% (ie: LIBOR-linked ARMs, for instance), but new loans won’t be written with terms at less than 0%. After all, banks can just warehouse physical cash instead. Or pile into gold.
If bond yields and interest rates are so low now and the U.S. is adding 200,000+ a month jobs over the last 3 to 3.5 years or so then imagine when things get worse.
The mistake is thinking that those “jobs” are actually of any meaningful quality. I don’t really understand the whole obsession with “jobs”. The Soviet Union’s collapse taught us that there can literally be 0% unemployment, yet have a very poor economy. What really matters is productivity, net trade position, and industrial output.
YVR hasn’t fallen since you started this blog… With the corrupt Liberals in power, I doubt it will
But if you have to bow to marital pressure, don’t be fooled by asking prices. Remember – this is a guy thing. You’re in a market where qualified purchasers with firm offers get to call the shots.
I’m thinking your real estate agent could be your friend – someone who insists that you both know the current market – asking price versus selling price. Trouble is a real estate is paid if and only if there is a sale. What about a contract that the agent is paid $100/hour for the time he spends working with you. This hourly fee is subtracted from the commission when and if there is a sale. If there is no sale after a year, he gets the fee.
ILoveCharts: Why can’t you rent? I know moving once or twice can be a pain with the babies but your wife can take a weekend with the girls in Banff and you can get pros to do the heavy lifting – all for less than the transaction costs and trouble associated with a real estate deal.
true enough but Garth is not kidding about marital pressure.
Bank Capital Math
Low bank capital requirements equate to high leverage for banks and explain how they can make a 15% ROE by lending money at 2.5%. They fund their mortgage loans mostly say (95%) with deposit money upon which they pay next to nothing in interest. A 2% spread leveraged 20 times can turn into 40% before costs and a 15% ROE on the bottom line.
And Banks ARE leveraged to the hilt.
Royal Bank of Canada is in fact HIGHLY leveraged. Based on their most recent annual report the figures are:
The RBC Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 10.6% at year end fiscal 2015. (So officially 9.4 times leveraged on that basis which is a risk-adjusted basis.)
I also calculated that the common equity as percent of assets was $57.048/$1074.2 = 5.3%. Assets leveraged 18.9 times common equity. (Not risk-adjusted)
Or deducting goodwill of $9.289 billion was $47.759/$1074.2 = 4.4%. Assets leveraged 23 times tangible common equity. (Not risk adjusted, just reality here)
I also noticed in Table 1 at page 10 that the leverage ratio was reported as 4.3%. That would appear to be 23 times leverage.
In summary, RBC is leveraged to the hilt and this is fully sanctioned by the bank regulators using the concept of risk-weighted assets to calculate that leverage is far lower and capital ratios far higher than actual reality.
Credit rating agencies also sanction it giving AAA and AA ratings to banks leveraged with assets over 20 times their common equity.
It is all well intentioned and not dishonest. But it results in the sanctioning and normalization of extreme leverage by banks.
I am still comfortable owning some RBC shares. But I would not put a major portion of my portfolio into RBC given the leverage and therefore risk.
Regulators should indeed increase the capital requirements and tighten up on the notion of risk-adjusted assets.
so you were at one time a bit of a gold bug…what about now….big rise…falling dollar….looks different
#12 Cottingham a bargain on 05.01.16 at 7:38 pm says… “Prices are sticky mark because real estate by its very nature is far less volatile than financial assets.”
I would agree that it is less volatile. However, when you factor in most people are leveraged 19x… it’s far more risky.
Read the actual OSFI proclamation here:
http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/eng/fi-if/in-ai/Pages/cptreqmtg.aspx
You will note not only is it saying banks will require to hold MORE capital against mortgages in areas where, “house prices are high relative to borrower incomes.”
As well note the 3rd paragraph from the end which reads:
“At present, federally regulated deposit-taking institutions benefit from very low capital requirements on mortgages that are insured against default, in recognition of the government backstop on that insurance. (CHMC insured.) OSFI is also considering additional criteria for recognizing the capital benefits of mortgage insurance in light of recent observations related to mortgage loan documentation. The risk mitigation benefits of mortgage insurance for regulatory capital purposes should, in principle, be reduced in circumstances where there may be material concerns around compliance with the terms of the insurance policy. This is consistent with OSFI Guidelines B-20 and B-21, which emphasize the importance of monitoring lender compliance with the terms of insurance contracts.”
OSFI goes as far to say, “recent observations” this means they are seeing crappy documentation.
What does this mean? It means OSFI thinks banks need to be more careful with their mortgage documentation for CMHC insured mortgages and if they are not then, can’t assume they ill be insured. That is banks make sure their documentation is 110% up to snuff because, if it is not, banks cannot assume a lower risk weighted asset (capital) that they currently do for those insured mortgages. So either they will 1) require more capital, 2) require much more due diligence on these mortgages or 3) likely BOTH.
Does this sound familiar? Remember how in the US they found that many mortgages were written without enough due diligence around income etc? ….
Very dark days are coming to Canada. Maybe, that deficit spending uptick simply is lipstick on thr pig.
Our Waterloo(ON) will become the first ghost city with masses of built and partially built student housing kandos. The Wek will walk.
BBerry is fast fading away.
Expect an uptick in violent and property crimes by the desperate and drug addled.
They want us as a Second World country. The truth.
Mark,
when trouble began in the States, it was 2006. It took another 4 years for house prices to hit their lows in 2010. Keep this in mind.
Also, how secure are your jobs? If employment for one, or both of you, disappears, do you and your wife want to risk your entire nest egg on a house?
This is a decision you both must make, and surely both of you can compromise?
Give yourself another day off already!
Congrats on the store opening this weekend. How do you find the time for this? You are a glutton for punishment.
#16 Dime Piece
Perfect!
Nuts, Condoms…What’s next?
Mark Gelded?
Hey Garth, I love your blog, but you need to get a life when it comes to this fed talk. Yellen isn’t going to raise rates right before an election in November. Look at what happened to the markets right after a measly .5 percent hike. Yellen probably isn’t a Trump fan and she’ll prop up the economy as much as possible before the election his year. That will be saved for the next prez to deal with.
Blatantly superficial “renovation” in Mississauga, list $1 million for a small 50 year old bungalow. Sold $1.175. Other end of town unrenovated list 725, sold 925.
“And that segment of the market above a million is where the biggest bargains are being found”
———————————————————————————
“Bargains” above $1 million dollars. How does one translate that statement?
If values in Calgary have not corrected after a 2 year oil blood bath, then they may never correct.
Also the now “achievable” 6% annual yield on a balanced portfolio brings up this concern:
If Mark waits a few years to buy, when mortgage rates supposedly grind their way up to 4-5% like we are told they will be time and time again, impacting/correcting home values, why wouldn’t cash rich buyers like him just go ahead and pay cash for their newly found bargoon home or pay off their mortgage and invest their future savings and what they have left? The small, uncertain spread and risk of investing 80% of the home value vs carrying a fat, compound interest mortgage won’t make a lot of sense if all of that comes to be.
“Regulators should indeed increase the capital requirements and tighten up on the notion of risk-adjusted assets.”
I agree. And also agree with your analysis of RBC (which is pretty much similar to most other Canadian banks).
The real elephant in the room is that the banks are completely and utterly dependant on market confidence in the CMHC/GoC paying CMHC subprime mortgage insurance claims in full. With CMHC’s paltry capital backing (~$25B or so against $900B of subprime mortgage guarantees), this is something that may not be considered an absolute certainty.
At some point, the CMHC will either run out of resources, or market confidence in the CMHC will falter. The federal government thus will have to make a decision whether to “save” the CMHC by bailing it out. Or letting the Canadian economy, including the banking system and house prices, go into a systemic collapse.
I don’t expect Trudeau et al to take the “nuclear meltdown” option of refusing to bail the CMHC out (even though it will be politically unpopular). But I do expect them to impose certain quid pro quos on the Canadian banks. Including, but not limited to, rescuing insolvent regional banks (ie: Credit Unions). Enactment of executive compensation limits on Canadian banks. And a special bank surtax.
The effect on Canadian bank equities is likely to be profound. Probably not a total collapse, but the period where loss of confidence has occurred could be easily just as loss-producing for the stocks as (then Finance Minister) Paul Martin’s rejection of bank mergers in the late 1990s.
This is why portfolio diversification is important, especially since most Canadian equity investors, particularly in the index products, tend to be very heavily weighted in the banks. As I’ve written many times, bail-ins are not on the table, but the BoC will likely be forced to ZIRP and NIRP to deal with the systemic fallout of a continuation of the housing price declines.
Well, Mark, blame human nature, severance packages and an unexpected bounce in oil to the $45 level. Real estate’s always sticky, and the higher average prices head, the stickier it gets. It’s now a part of our culture that every family must make money on every house sale, or they’ve somehow been cheated. So instead of going to market with a price that’ll attract buyers in a realistic amount of time, sellers would rather sit for months. And months. And months.
……
Herdonomics 101 Garths learning….
Much like flying a jet. Takes a lot of power to take off, then cut it back and cruise. When ready to land, cut back power way before destination, then control your descent in. If you require a change in direction, start turning very little, very slowly. Expect it to take a while. When you make an adjustment, you will feel the result long after.
#125 Smoking Man on 04.30.16 at 10:17 pm
In the world of Code Smithing. Education means nothing. Unless it’s a govt gig, degree required. In the private sector that pays the big bucks, you either can do it or you can’t. They don’t care about degrees.
Been a pro since 2000. I know of what I speak.
+++++++++
What a proud little employee – so much for the entrepreneurship talk.
Nice meeting you yesterday Mr. Turner, Belfountain store it was great. My daughter love the ice cream but disappointed with your beard.
I’m sure you’ve already seen it, but what do you think about the CMHC report on foreign buyers? http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/68469/68469_2016_M04.pdf?fr=1462146220007
westcoast on 05.01.16 at 8:20 pm
#12 Cottingham a bargain on 05.01.16 at 7:38 pm says… “Prices are sticky mark because real estate by its very nature is far less volatile than financial assets.”
I would agree that it is less volatile. However, when you factor in most people are leveraged 19x… it’s far more risky.
——–
If you are leveraged 19x to 1 then it is risky for you but not for those who have paid up property, bought many years ago, who are committed to own it for decades. That describes the average Canadian.
The force is strong with CDN RE my friend
#25 LS in Arbutus on 05.01.16 at 8:26 pm
Hi Garth, Hope the store opening went ok. Any surprises, like people asking for organic catnip?
Why the hell buy 2800 sq ft??..you plan on pumping out 10 more?. but of course you think yer the man because you’re not buying the 4000 sq ft…
1800-2000 sq ft is huge…. but you’ll cave …got to look the part of yer salary… yer an oil cowboy… a blue eyed sheik…and don’t forget you need the annual winter vacation in hawaii and summer in invermere… or else what sort of cowboy are you.
Yer screwed dude.
”Our net worth is $1mm and we earn combined gross income of $330k annually.”
Nice problem to have.
P.S. your store might be haunted…. by Judy …..let us know if you are going to start a ghost blog or something.
Garth Turner’s ghost stories has a good ring to it.
I think the big issue in the room is whether the Canadian bank dividends (common shares) are sustainable in the event of a major housing meltdown. Major pension funds, including Canada Pension Plan, is relying on sustainable (and growing) bank dividends.
I do recall reading that National Bank (Sixth largest Canadian bank) had cut their dividends in the early 90’s, right around the last time the Canadian housing meltdown occured.
Dear Garth,
I make 500k a year and have a net worth of 15mil. I rent. Help me understand why I don’t actually have any problems.
Sincerely,
Boo friggin hoo
Why is it called CMHC? This is nothing other than “joe/jane taxpayer” on the hook, to protect the banks, without their consent, for the greed and ignorance of the uninformed “delusional tools”.
If T2 had half a nut in his sack, he would surely start at the top of this festering heap and not stop hacking till he doofed the last knob at the bottom. What a fustercluck!
Hey Garth. I wanted to share a story that gave my wife my dog and me a really good laugh. Our friend just put a bid on a condo for 500 (listed at 490). There were no counter offers. The owners countered with 550k. Did i mention there were no counters? OMG. This because in the interim another unit sold for 550k. We told her to run to the hills. Nope. Oh well. We are salting everything away, saving 2500 a month renting instead of buying. And we are waiting for the inevitable implosion. Patiently.
Anybody can recommend an entry level book on investing in stock?
Something more specific than “Wealthy Barber”.
Thanks
Novices should not be buying stocks. — Garth
Agree with most points Garth, but disagree with interest rate increase as the economic growth has been subpar for the last couple of years. The job creation down in US has been temporary, low skilled jobs in the service sector and debt, both private and public has not decreased significantly. Me thinks we would be seeing real low interest for quite a long time as the government wouldn’t want to blow up this debt bubble.
Well this is a problem I certainly don’t have. Far too risky otherwise with today’s divorce laws. Real men always put their freedom first. I would know, I’m a man. Don’t do it Mark, V-Safe is the way to go, you can thank me later.
The mention of the recent rebound the $45/bbl oil is interesting. There is a stark difference between the notion of $45/bbl oil today, compared to the realization of $45/bbl oil 1.25 years ago.
I’ve been living in Calgary for the past few years, and work in oil & gas. Early in 2015, when oil first dropped to about $45/bbl, the sky was falling. It seemed to rebound for a short while to around $60, instilling the faint hope that maybe $45 was the bottom, before the prices resumed falling much lower than that.
The price direction for the near future is still uncertain, but it’s undeniable that the recent move up to $45/bbl feels a lot better than $45/bbl felt on the way down.
Not sure how a 32yr old amasses 1mil and can be making that kind of scratch??? Something smells a bit fishy in the river city..
Good luck, Mark. Two babies, an iffy real estate purchase and a move. Enjoy the stress.
poor mark.
screwed. he can tell his kids that he bought at the peak and rode it all the way down
It means people taking out mortgages in, say, Halifax or Montreal at a higher rate will be subsidizing those delusional tools borrowing to buy in YVR or the Kingdom of 416.
kingdom of 416 lol
real estate prices may continue skyward in YVR and YYZ, but both are still dumps. it’s a shame that that’s where all the jobs are
When your a pro, and have a great reputation, you never need to send out a single resume. Always have corps in the wings waiting to scope you.
never thought of it this way but you’re prolly right now that I think about my friends. if a person is sending resumes blind to HR they prolly suck or are new. qualified STEM applicants have to fight multiple offers. only the undesirable are left scraping the bottom of the barrel
the demand in STEM is so great at the moment that they’re taking coders without university degrees. crazy amazing times
http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/fp-startups/how-canadas-tech-talent-shortage-means-post-secondary-education-is-no-longer-a-requirement
Calgary housing market sticky? That is inconsistent with my friend’s recent experience
sucks to be your friend (lol that’s a funny pun). I’m actively shopping in AB and Calgary RE is being stubborn. Garth is right very sticky.
YVR hasn’t fallen since you started this blog… With the corrupt Liberals in power, I doubt it will
unfortunately u may be right. until you’re not. YVR and YYZ real estate continues to increase because employment is strong and rates are low. nobody knows how long that’ll last
I am o.k with this particular Mark reproducing, the other one ,not so much…
you won’t need to worry about that lol
#50 Freedom First on 05.01.16 at 10:17 pm
—
This guy is an imposter. Mark is already married so it’s too late for him. He’ll never be free like me. He’s also got two kids on the way, but not me. I put my freedom first. I would never consider getting a woman pregnant. I would have to raise children and that could get really messy. I love myself. I’m the best.
FF007
#49 Toronto Dweller on 05.01.16 at 10:14 pm
Agree with most points Garth, but disagree with interest rate increase as the economic growth has been subpar for the last couple of years. The job creation down in US has been temporary, low skilled jobs in the service sector and debt, both private and public has not decreased significantly. Me thinks we would be seeing real low interest for quite a long time as the government wouldn’t want to blow up this debt bubble.
******************
I wonder if people thought the gov would step in and prevent the crash in the US.
Losses? How could there be losses when real estate only goes up? Incomes matter? That is so 90s. We are in a new paradigm now.
Good for the Raptors. I pull for Toronto sports teams despite being 2000 miles away, here in Bitumen Town.
It would be nice if the 5th biggest metropolitan area in North America had some swagger and was brash.
Hogtown Swaggerville
Nuts…Mark’s wife is either very brave or very deluded. Having twins is going to be a big job, and moving in the midst of all of that would be pure hell. Besides, the whole of the first year she will have no time to enjoy the yard, and more square footage of indoor space just means more housework.
My dear boyfriend and I are expecting one, due in September, and I’m already beginning to lament the two-floor duplex rental. Given that the first year will consist of no sleep for ever, endless feeding and diaper changing, and if I’m lucky, some housework…right about now I’m really wishing that I could wave a magic wand and turn this place into a one-floor, two bedroom apartment! Call me lazy all you want, but I’ll just insist that I’m just practical ;-)
It is just not the same without the dated scatter dot charts that VREU used to post on Victoria.
VREU has been MIA. I guess she left her basement, walked around Victoria, and realized that her constant diatribes about the Victoria market were misplaced.
Good on you VREU – you finally smelled the RE roses and saw the light.
#64 Move on VREU
Does that mean that you can now “move on” too? Please do, because the constant bullying and harassment makes you look really pathetic.
#59 Freedom First 007 on 05.01.16 at 10:47 pm
#50 Freedom First on 05.01.16 at 10:17 pm
—
This guy is an imposter. Mark is already married so it’s too late for him. He’ll never be free like me. He’s also got two kids on the way, but not me. I put my freedom first. I would never consider getting a woman pregnant. I would have to raise children and that could get really messy. I love myself. I’m the best.
FF007
—
A multiple d*ckhead problem rears it’s head…FF is spawning… good job there’s condoms!!
#5 For those about to flop… on 05.01.16 at 7:28 pm
Some people on here have argued before about rising property prices having no effect on property taxes.
————————————————————-
I challenge anyone in BC who received an increased assessment to say that their taxes did not significantly rise in dollar figures.
Of course, what parasite would not vote themselves a raise for New city hall buildings, New Swimming Pools, More pay for themselves.
The best time to slip this in is when everyone thinks their property is worth more and feeling rich!
Do the tools in T2 gov know that being a police officer in a 3rd world money gives you a right to extort money from people? Its expected of a police officer.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-application-changes-may-1-1.3561511
tools have know idea what they’re in for.
Nothing to worry about.. T2 will just hug everyone on the never-ending world selfie tour….
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/embracing-the-job-a-photographic-compilation-of-trudeaus-hugging-highlights-of-the-past-six-months
Can someone tell me what a good percentage would be on return rate for a cash flow property?
I’m a first time buyer and want to find one.
Thanks guys Jd
Mark, with an income of $330k your net worth should be higher. Where are you pissing away all the money? My income is half yours and my net worth much much higher.
Ran into a couple who have put up the downpayment for not one but two children in Vancouver. Another friend has put up money for her child to have a house. I guess the blog dogs were right about the parental bank of mom and dad.
Prices in Calgary are not sticky on the way down. The selling prices today is about twenty percent below the ask price. So real estate values have already dropped about 20 percent from the peak. Oil has almost made a technical one-third retracement. 100-26=74. 74 divided by 3 is abound 24 + 26= 50. Oil will hit a brick wall at 50 if it ever gets there. Interest rates are falling in America. They’re overstating the monthly jobs report while talking down the dollar. When the election is over NIRP will be the order of the day in America. Recession/depression is bad for oil and America is already in recession/depression and it will be made public that America was in recession for all of 2016 shortly after the election this November.
Re: #56 WalMark of Sadkatoon on 05.01.16 at 10:41 pm
People will sell for 50 cents on the dollar today in Calgary. All you have to do is write the offer to purchase for half of the ask price. What could possibly be more simple than that? Just float enough offers to purchase and a handful or more will bite at that figure.
Garth, you are consistent, I must say. Despite having made the wrong call on RE these last few years (8?) you still advise against buying.
Not wrong in Calgary. — Garth
Girth:
At least you could have edited my comment to add “FIRST” as a banner.
Thanks a bunch.
The Mayor up here in Ft. McMisery (9 hours’ drive north of Cowboy Heaven) has declared a State of Emergency.
Google the lefty rag called the “Edmonton Journal”.
I’m saving a bundle on DuMaurier Cigs. Particulate matter (PM2.5 in the jargon of the enviro crowd) is dirt cheap up here with the forest fires. I think I will pile my savings into ETFs or WTFs.
#50&59 Freedom Firsters
Gee. My very own fan club.
…………………………………………
Now, about Mark. He’s living the dream.
But not my dream, of course. Shows to go ya….one
man’s dream can be another man’s nightmare. I’m happy for Mark. His wife is lucky to have him.
That being said, I’m even happier for me. I feel privileged.
China Lending Inflates Real Estate, Stocks, Even Egg Futures
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/dealbook/china-lending-inflates-real-estate-stocks-even-egg-futures.html
Saad Rahim, the chief economist at Trafigura, one of the world’s biggest traders of metals and oil, calculates that China added about $1 trillion in new liquidity in the first quarter of the year — an amount that would be roughly equal to the entire quarterly economic output of Germany during the same period.
“This kind of scale is unprecedented and some of it will leak into speculative investments,” Mr. Rahim said.
Governments borrowing unabated , increasing the national debt year over year after year with no intention of paying back is why real estate will be worthless in ten years. Except to foreign debtors.
Friend of ours who tells us he has dual citizenship (he’s a Native) heads north occasionally , says you can buy a house cheap in what is known now as the GTA North or Barrie Ontario. Didn’t know it went that far north , 40 minutes up the road from Toronto .
#75 Why Me on 05.02.16 at 1:59 am
Garth, you are consistent, I must say. Despite having made the wrong call on RE these last few years (8?) you still advise against buying.
Not wrong in Calgary. — Garth
——
If you want to buy a house in Calgary then do so. Oil could rebound further from here just as easily as it could crash again.
The fact that house prices have remained sticky, regardless of oils decline, should tell you that real estate in Canada truly is the choicest of all investment assets
Hardly. Financial portfolios have trumped national property performance every decade since WW2, with complete liquidity and lower carrying costs. — Garth
Why does the government have to go this route and bypass revising their own cmhc which should be eliminated.
Why do they have to push regulations just to offset cmhc moral hazard of their own making.
Yes, I see the rationale of needing to buy a house when you are expecting kids. My family moved around when I was younger and didn’t actually buy a house and settle down until I was 6 years old. I was so traumatized by the horrifying experience of living in rented houses all those years that to this day, at 55 years old, I am still seeking psychiatric help to deal with the extensive psychological damage done during those critical formative years.
One can hardly blame the sheeple for all the mortgage debt. Or is this another do as I say and not as I do scenario? http://www.debtclock.ca/
higher rates will negatively impact stock markets as much as RE. And we all know QE is the tool that keeps economies going forward. Kindly place the rate hike warnings in the box with the unicorns and Norman Rockwell paintings.
And QE is inflationary to both stock markets and RE, just as higher rates are deflationary to both. Pick your poison.
I understand RE is a single basket of risk but at least you can sleep, $hit, shower and shave in that basket – seems most people have a need for such.
US rates rose in December and will move again once or twice in 2016. This will continue in 2017. Smart people prepare. Smartass people write blog comments. — Garth
@#53,54,55,56,57, and finally 58
WalMark of Sadkatoon
You’re allowed to make multiple comments under the same number.
Unless you just like seeing your “name” repeated multiple times…..
Just a thought.
I expected what you did back in ’09, RE to fall, and a free market equilibrium to be rediscovered. But no, instead it has been a gong show with the gov’t falling over itself to inflate GDP numbers through a RE bubble and bragging about how it was the greatest G7 nation to sidestep the financial meltdown.
Finally upgraded the house last year. The gov’t has made it clear, good old fashion saving is for losers. Excellent choice thus far. Now I got 3 crappers to choose from.
What’s a quarter point between friends? Do you really think we will ever see 4-5% ever again? IMO, we are too far down the debt hole at every level of gov’t and consumer.
Of course rates will rise. Don’t fall victim to recency thinking. Buy what you can afford while maintaining balance. You will need it. — Garth
CALGARY…CALGARY… CALGARY
Yep, prices are sticky. However, at the lower levels in price I’ve seen a few properties sell above ask so maybe we do have the odd bidding war. This in the $350,000 to $425,000 range.
Been looking for months for a home after renting for the past 4 years here. Despite all of the problems the deals are still hard to come by. And, if you see a deal you have to act quickly… crazy right?
Cheers!
#52 Cowtown Cowboy on 05.01.16 at 10:31 pm
———————————
Well one could be a cop and the other a doctor? With the right job combinations 330k is achievable. Also, they did sell a house in 2014 and may have made a substantial sum on that, if their parents had bought it for them 10 years prior?
The folks at CTV need a blog dog intervention…
http://www.ctvnews.ca/5things/how-parents-can-help-their-offspring-enter-the-housing-market-1.2880636
“Kvick said when parents want to build up savings for their kids, they should begin with maximizing TFSA contributions.
“You don’t pay any taxes at all on the growth, and you are in control of the money,” she said. “The account is in your name, and you could give (your kids) as much as you want, or as little as you want.”
Who is this guy Mark?
First: In Calgary prices are not likely to come down. The rentals and houses are still a rip off and likely will remain. The only thing that will cause it to come down is oil at $20/barrel for years, and a total collapse.
“In these trying economic times,” says Global news. Right. Come out onto Shaganappi trail at 7 am or the Deerfoot. Wall to wall traffic. Nice vehicles. So yes, there are many out of jobs and there are many that keep on. It isnt that the people unemployed shouldnt have sympathy. They should. At the same time there are still so many that have money so the roadways and costcos remain packed. Just look around. And that is why housing is so expensive. If you arent willing to buy, there always will be someone who is, unless Calgary becomes like a California Gold rush ghost town.
Second: This guy sounds like he is pushed around by his wife. This is so common in Canada. It’s like the women here think they have one up and can act like they think they are wanna be men. So unattractive. This guy Mark needs to tell his wife how it is gonna be. Use reason and gentle persuasion, and if she doesnt get the message, then unsugar coat the message so she gets it.
When I bought the mortgage, I did a 5 minute assessment of the decision. Basement for man cave. Check. Close to school. Check. About the same price as the rent. Check. Reasonably sized. Check. So I told wifey and the realtor(a woman) that we were getting the place. “Either sh*^ or get off the pot”, I told them. I went on instinct after having looked at literally around 100 houses. And that has saved $1645/month rent to the tune of around 5 years now. Not to mention not having to see the landlord ever again. This Mark guy needs to grow some cajones and tell the woman, his wife, how its gonna be. Sometimes my wife isnt happy when I first try to reason with her gently. Newsflash: Men arent responsible to make the women in their life happy. Be reasonable, be personable, be polite, be supportive, but if she still doesnt respond, ignore her and you make the decision.
$330k? Not while she’s on mat leave, or if she decides to go back to work at all.
And I call BULLSH*T on the ‘oh can’t find something under $1Million’ in Calgary. He’s looking outside the city for acreage, probably in bearspaw or springbank. He can find what he is looking for, there are many many deals in great neighborhoods to be had.
I got a 1/4 acre in the NW on a cul-de-sac with unobstructed views of the Rockies that I would sell for $650k. Mark, dude, call me.
#85 crowdedelevatorfartz on 05.02.16 at 8:37 am
He can’t help himself. Ignored as a child. Craves attention.
That’s our Kathy! Her next campaign slogan:
‘You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/greenfield-ethanol-kathleen-wynne-ontario-liberal-donations-1.3558156
#65 Cici on 05.01.16 at 11:28 pm
#64 Move on VREU
Does that mean that you can now “move on” too? Please do, because the constant bullying and harassment makes you look really pathetic.”
Takes one to know one….nah nah nah nah nah, blah, blah, blah….yawn!
Congratulations Mark & Wife!!
Mark did you travel back in time and become my husband and write this? He could have written your post word for exact word 5 years ago….only our ages are a bit different.
I will offer a few gentle thoughts;
1. Listen to Garth.
2. If you haven’t already done so, join the twins & trips Calgary association (TTMAC), it might sound corny but it’s a fab resource.
3. Prepare snappy comebacks for the 5 repetitive twins questions/comments you will hear from every Tom, Dick & Scary. Unless you are heavily medicated, you will want to poke these folks-sleep deprivation does goofy things even to the most sane people.
4. Your twins don’t need a McMansion; when they start walking a fenced safe yard is a blessing, luckily rentals can offer a yard and probably A/C.
5. Unless your jobs are 110% guaranteed and you have lots of family childcare assistance beyond the first couple months….LISTEN to GARTH!
Wishing you a Happy, Healthy Pregnancy & Delivery!
Twins are Fantastic, Enjoy!
I was in Calgary last week for work. I lived there from 200-2003. Decided to take a walk around the old hood and downtown. All I saw was “For Rent” signs, “For Sale” signs, some desperate businesses and a few boarded up, not to mention a bad energy in the city core. I remember feeling Cowtown’s excitement and vibrancy a decade ago. The city is most definitely in decline. Buying a house there? Foolish. Run for the (foot)hills.
#83 Doug in London on 05.02.16 at 8:02 am
————————————————-
Actually, moving can be quite traumatic on a child once they’ve been in school and developed friendships. Sure, learning about ‘losing something’ is an important thing to teach children, but that is one item (losing friends) that you don’t necessarily have to subject them too if you’ve bought or rented wisely to begin with.
LS in Arbutus: What does this mean? It means OSFI thinks banks need to be more careful with their mortgage documentation for CMHC insured mortgages and if they are not then, can’t assume they will be insured. That is banks make sure their documentation is 110% up to snuff because, if it is not, banks cannot assume a lower risk weighted asset (capital) that they currently do for those insured mortgages. So either they will 1) require more capital, 2) require much more due diligence on these mortgages or 3) likely BOTH.
Does this sound familiar? Remember how in the US they found that many mortgages were written without enough due diligence around income etc? ….
that got my attention. I do remember how in the US many mortgages were written without due diligence.
Arbutus: where’s that?
Really?? Been looking at Calgary houses on and off for eight years, guessing more than everyone except realtors, which makes me the expert ;)
Was in a bidding war last week. Every move in ready correctly priced house in good hood (say middle NW) still has a bidding war. I of course bid the lowest n lost.
Prices rose until 2014 and have been about stable since, maybe down $10-20k on some 500-550k houses.
Yeah I expected stickiness given EI, longtime overpaid rich folks, prior realized gains and associated human nature but am still surprised.
Still very slim chance you can get a good house for below asking. Prices tripled from 2005 to 2015. Wages? not even double so lots of capital risk.
bargain on 05.02.16 at 7:01 am
#75 Why Me on 05.02.16 at 1:59 am
Garth, you are consistent, I must say. Despite having made the wrong call on RE these last few years (8?) you still advise against buying.
Not wrong in Calgary. — Garth
——
If you want to buy a house in Calgary then do so. Oil could rebound further from here just as easily as it could crash again.
The fact that house prices have remained sticky, regardless of oils decline, should tell you that real estate in Canada truly is the choicest of all investment assets
Hardly. Financial portfolios have trumped national property performance every decade since WW2, with complete liquidity and lower carrying costs. — Garth
———–
While any Andex chart will prove you empirically correct Garth, you too easily dismiss the psychological advantages RE enjoys.
I would argue that the increased liquidity your financial assets enjoy are precisely the reason people do so poorly with them on a individual basis( lots of empirical evidence for that as well which I am sure you will agree with)
As for lower carrying costs , once you factor in the fact that you have to live somewhere and that the inflation of housing prices have outstripped carrying costs plus costs to rent , then houses make sense again.
As for WWII , wish my grandfather had the foresight to buy a bunch of land and houses when they were farms on st Clair just post . You can keep your stocks and bonds then.
Did everyone get Ceaser’s census decree in the mail?
Maybe this year I’ll be a disabled Wiccan farmer with 5 dependents living on a Northern reserve.
“Hardly. Financial portfolios have trumped national property performance every decade since WW2, with complete liquidity and lower carrying costs. — Garth”
How is this possible?
In 2000, the TSX was around 8.5k. In 2010, the TSX was around 12k. A 41% increase.
In 2000, the average house in Toronto was $243k, in 2010, it was $431k. A 77% increase.
Sure the stock is liquid, but the house is tax-free, high leverage. A $20k downpayment in Y2k, with mortgage interest payments and repairs not higher than rent would give you a tax free gain of $188k, not including the amount which went into the mortgage itself. If you really wanted to get rich, you would have rented out the basement.
Your $20k in the TSX would give you a *taxable* gain of ~$10k, assuming compounding.
…and you’d have lived in a much nicer place that decade.
It’s a shame I had $25k of student debt in Y2k… bought in 2003, sold (for many reasons) in 2006, stepped back (for good reasons) and… now find my $300k of savings not more than the whim of a millennial in a bidding war.
A financial portfolio does not equal the Toronto stock market. And I referenced national average real estate values. My statement is correct. — Garth
Hardly. Financial portfolios have trumped national property performance every decade since WW2, with complete liquidity and lower carrying costs. — Garth
Without leverage I totally agree. With leverage RE wins hands down. Most people buy RE with leverage and financial assets with no leverage.
But it’s not a contest. People with balanced lives have both. — Garth
“US rates rose in December and will move again once or twice in 2016. This will continue in 2017.”
Will you never learn Garth? None of that will happen.
I always wonder about these clueless millionaires who always email Garth for advice. A 330K income puts them into the top few percent of Canadian incomes, if not the top 1%. And yet they can’t seem to manage their own lives.
It’s like asking: “Dear Garth, should I buy my vacation home in Maui, LA, or Miami??? My stay at home wife is driving me nuts, this is reaching crisis levels! For the good of humanity, please tell me what to do!”
Yes, I’m just jealous that people stupider than me have more money.
This is our third year of renting in Calgary after selling our house.
Prices are down, but still not where they should be given the economy.
Oil prices may have bumped up a little. But the industry is still well entrenched in lay off mood here in Calgary. And a recovery will not replace all of the displaced jobs. Employers are looking for a way to reduce employment numbers even if the good times return. This is a changed industry. Not like we have had in the past.
As for the CREB. Their pronouncements are a bit of a joke to anyone who has been actively watching the market. We do not even bother with their so called stats any more. We believe that they misrepresent reality and are published by realtors for their benefit. Certainly not for my benefit as a consumer. After all, who wants a report from the wolf as to how many chickens are remaining in the coop.
#36 Gordie on 05.01.16 at 9:04 pm
#125 Smoking Man on 04.30.16 at 10:17 pm
In the world of Code Smithing. Education means nothing. Unless it’s a govt gig, degree required. In the private sector that pays the big bucks, you either can do it or you can’t. They don’t care about degrees.
Been a pro since 2000. I know of what I speak.
+++++++++
What a proud little employee – so much for the entrepreneurship talk.
…..
You ever heard if a consulting practice, work out of my home. have an Inc and a LLC. As well as a software text encryption corp. 3 employees. Let’s not even consider trading.
I’m a good little slave
Spent last many months looking for a house in Calgary. Renter since 2008, mostly due to flexibility it offers and the fact that we have a great house at a very good price($1400).
The immigrant areas of NE have held on way better than other parts of the city. I know coz, I’m one.
For houses above $600k, there’s right now more than 24 months supply of homes in North Calgary. Ask your favorite realtor to corroborrate this.
So anyone calling for bidding wars in NW Calgary for properties above 500k is either lying or going to properties that are very nicely priced and show exceptionally well.
We have seen about two dozen homes in the last two months and about 3 or 4 of them have sold, at about $20 to $30k discount from the already discounted prices.
Things are sticky, but that’s because the human emotion factor is strongly at play. Someone who bought a house last year at, say $590k is in the red already, even if they fetch the same price.
Homes under $500k are a different story, but that appears to be weakening as well.
Remember, people moved to Calgary for better quality of life afforded by low taxes, great wages and lower cost of living, despite the weather.
Almost all of these are gone, except the weather has been remarkable this year. It’s almost like buying a 5 series for its supposed fuel efficency.
http://vancouversun.com/business/real-estate/victoria-area-real-estate-sales-set-record-in-april
Uh oh VREU, I guess this is another does not compute moment for you. Rely on your fundamental analysis of RE and you will be left behind…
#36 Gordie on 05.01.16 at 9:04 pm
#125 Smoking Man on 04.30.16 at 10:17 pm
In the world of Code Smithing. Education means nothing. Unless it’s a govt gig, degree required. In the private sector that pays the big bucks, you either can do it or you can’t. They don’t care about degrees.
Been a pro since 2000. I know of what I speak.
+++++++++
What a proud little employee – so much for the entrepreneurship talk
………………………………………………………………
Ha SM you been served MF!
Epic Mike Drop!
#83 Doug in London
Yes, I see the rationale of needing to buy a house when you are expecting kids. My family moved around when I was younger and didn’t actually buy a house and settle down until I was 6 years old. I was so traumatized by the horrifying experience of living in rented houses all those years that to this day, at 55 years old, I am still seeking psychiatric help to deal with the extensive psychological damage done during those critical formative years.
————–
Seriously? Did you live in the house of horrors house?
If you were living in crappy rented houses until you were six the odds were that you parents would have had you living in crappy purchased houses. Which means that you would have had poor living conditions no matter what…
Get over it already.
A house is a shelter for the smart – and an anchor for the wage slaves that make you obedient to the law, banks and employers for the vast majority.
But it’s not a contest. People with balanced lives have both. — Garth
Well I have both. As a matter of fact my RE is only 35% of my net worth and that’s in Burnaby. I am just trying to point out that with leverage RE is a better investment so far since WW2.
Nope. Not nationally. — Garth
how tax havens kill the paper trail
“The Australian Broadcasting Corporation says the leaked documents show these new directors – Harmony Core and Winsome Sky – were run by the Kwoks, (Sun Hung Kai Properties, the largest property developer in Hong Kong, )
revealing Mossack Fonseca had helped the brothers hide their directorships of the company controlling Wilson Security.”
http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/panama-papers-passant.html
==============================
Dec 23, 2014 – Hong Kong’s Former No. 2 Official, Rafael Hui, Receives 7½ Years. Hong Kong sentenced billionaire property developer Thomas Kwok and ex-Chief Secretary Rafael Hui to prison after a corruption trial. … The ruling also knocked Thomas Kwok, 63, from the helm of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Mother+Hong+Kong+billionaire+Kwok+brothers+called+shots/10697343/story.html
16 February 2016 11:15
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1252534-20160405.htm
#105 Gregor Samsa on 05.02.16 at 2:17 pm
“I always wonder about these clueless millionaires who always email Garth for advice. A 330K income puts them into the top few percent of Canadian incomes, if not the top 1%. And yet they can’t seem to manage their own lives.
It’s like asking: “Dear Garth, should I buy my vacation home in Maui, LA, or Miami??? My stay at home wife is driving me nuts, this is reaching crisis levels! For the good of humanity, please tell me what to do!”
Yes, I’m just jealous that people stupider than me have more money.”
Hey Gregor, chill dude! You know what they say:
Mo Money Mo Problems!
@Move on VREU, post #111 and Bottoms_Up, post #97:
Can’t you tell when someone like me is being a smartass, making fun of the fanatic obsession some people have with home ownership? Oh wait, I’m actually telling the truth and if you believe that I’ve got some premium priced Nortel, Enron, Eastman Kodak, and Bre-X shares I would just love to sell to you. You interested?
@ #99 calgary64 on 05.02.16 at 12:28 pm
Really?? Been looking at Calgary houses on and off for eight years, guessing more than everyone except realtors, which makes me the expert ;)
Was in a bidding war last week. Every move in ready correctly priced house in good hood (say middle NW) still has a bidding war. I of course bid the lowest n lost.
**************************************
I could literally have written that same post, word for word, changing the location to Kingston Ontario. Even bid and lost this weekend!
.. In Kingston we have the added fun of military personnel who have some of their ‘losses’ covered by the military – they don’t seem to care too much if they carry two houses forever after they’re posted. It’s fascinating to watch, really – the homes in the vicinity of the base which are NOT owned by military are priced correctly (about 20% less) and sell immediately.
amazing how that works.